Skip to content
Ferguson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ferguson Foundation

Its FY2019 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.0M
Granted FY2019
23
Grants FY2019
9
States reached
$224k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2019.

Human Services$633kEducation$539kArts & Culture$481kAnimals$240kEnvironment$176kCivil Rights$175kYouth Development$115kCrime & Legal$65kOther$0
02FY2019 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2019

  • $10k–50k9 grants · $308k
  • $50k–250k14 grants · $1.7M
$60,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MOORPARK COLLEGE FOUNDATION$223,842
LISA FERGUSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUNDUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND$200,000
INTERFACE CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES$175,000
NEW WEST SYMPHONY$156,000
Individual grant recipient$154,000
SOUTHERN PROVERTY LAW CENTER$125,000
ALASKA WILDLIFE ALLIANCE$110,000
WILDERNESS YOUTH PROJECT$105,000
Individual grant recipient$100,000
PROJECT CUDDLE INC$100,000
FULFILLMENT FUND$70,000
WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT$60,000
ONE HEARTLAND$55,000
INNOCENCE PROJECT$55,000
HUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY$35,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–19, $605k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 50% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $55k → 17%BIG CAT RESCUE: $35k → 13%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $60k → 14%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $5k → 17%BIG CAT RESCUE: $5k → 13%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $10k → 14%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $5k → 17%BIG CAT RESCUE: $5k → 13%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $10k → 14%INTERFACE CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES: $175k → 10%INTERFACE CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES: $100k → 10%INTERFACE CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES: $25k → 10%FULFILLMENT FUND: $70k → 14%FULFILLMENT FUND: $25k → 14%FULFILLMENT FUND: $20k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
MN
WI
NY
PA
CA
MD
DC
AL
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 24 repeat orgs$436k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2019, 3 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
5

Total granted

$2.1M
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
0%

Still filing today

88%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2019, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $424k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19
AnimalsHuman ServicesEnvironmentCrime & LegalArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • Interface Children Family Services
    3× · 2017–2019 · $300k · revenue +86%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $175k · revenue +10%
  • AW
    Alaska Wildlife Alliance
    3× · 2017–2019 · $130k · revenue ×27 · 71% of their budget

Funded once

  • CH
    CAMARILLO HOSPICE CORPORATION
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • MC
    MANNA CONEJO VALLEY FOOD BANK
    one grant, 2017 · $2k
  • D(
    DART (DROWNING ACCIDENT RESCUE TEAM)
    one grant, 2017 · $2k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The California Wildlife Center

The california wildlife center (cwc) takes responsibility for the protection of all native wildlife through rehabilitiation, education and conservation. as the los angeles area's premier wildlife medical care and rehabilitation facility,…

Health
2
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for Monterey County

The SPCA Monterey County's Mission is assuring compassionate treatment of all animals through rescue, rehabilitation, protection and education. The SPCA shelters homeless, neglected, and abused pets, including dogs, cats, horses, exotic…

Animals
3
The Wildcat Sanctuary

Provide a natural sanctuary to wild cats in need and inspire change to end the captive wildlife crisis.

Animals
4
Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network

Santa barbara wildlife care network (sbwcn) serves to rescue, rehabilitate and return to the wild sick, injured, orphaned, or oil-impaired wild birds, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals in santa barbara and ventura counties and to…

Animals
5
Progressive Animal Welfare Society aka Paws

A champion for animals since 1967, PAWS is a nationally recognized leader - rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife, sheltering and adopting homeless cats and dogs, and educating people to make a better world for animals and people.

Animals
6
Animal Care Sanctuary

Animal care sanctuary's lifesaving mission as a no kill organization envisions a community that promotes turning compassion into action for companion animals by: 1.) adopting healthy pet companions into loving homes. 2.) promoting the…

Animals
7
Rescue Life Inc

The mission of rescue life is to save the lives of wild, farm, and domestic animals which include horses, pigs, donkeys, llamas, zebras, alpacas,and dogs. the mission includes providing care, shelter, and adoption services. rescue life…

Animals
8
Wildlife Protection Solutions

To protect endangered species.

Animals
9
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
10
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc

Connect conservationists and supporters, deploy resources to the field, provide conservationists with tools and support they need to succeed.

Animals
11
Wolfe Ranch Rescue
Animals
12
Forever Wild Wildlife Rescue
Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Wilderness Society; the most unlike its peers is Red Bucket Equine Rescue. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

24 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 24 of the 31 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/24
Grantees still filing
18/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE MOORPARK COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $223,842 · OtherTHE MOORPARK COLLEGE FOUNDATIONLISA FERGUSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUNDUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: $200,000 · OtherLISA FERGUSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUNDUNIVERSITY …Individual grant recipient: $163,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPROJECT CUDDLE INC: $150,000 · OtherPROJECT CUDDLE INCIndividual grant recipient: $150,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientEXOTIC CAT REFUGE: $43,000 · OtherONE HEARTLAND: $65,000 · OtherONE HEARTLANDFOOD SHARE INC: $41,000 · OtherMY STUFF BAGS FOUNDATION: $38,000 · Other+6 more: $48,000 · OtherInterface Children Family Services: $300,000 · Human ServicesInterface Children Family S…FULFILLMENT FUND: $115,000 · Human ServicesFULFILLMENT FUNDWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $80,000 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INCTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $65,000 · Human ServicesTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INCBIG CAT RESCUE CORP: $45,000 · Human ServicesBIG CAT RESCUE CORPAlaska Wildlife Alliance: $130,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $46,000 · EnvironmentSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $175,000 · Crime & LegalNEW WEST SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $168,000 · Arts & CultureHUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY: $45,000 · AnimalsBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $45,000 · AnimalsRED BUCKET EQUINE RESCUE: $45,000 · AnimalsHOPE FOR PAWS: $7,000 · Animals+2 more: $7,000 · AnimalsWilderness Youth Project Inc: $115,000 · Youth Development
Other$1,121,842Human Services$605,000Environment$176,000Crime & Legal$175,000Arts & Culture$168,000Animals$149,000Youth Development$115,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetInterface Children Family Services: $300,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetTHE MOORPARK COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $223,842 over 1y, 68% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $175,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNEW WEST SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $168,000 over 3y, 5.4% of budgetPROJECT CUDDLE INC: $150,000 over 3y, 58% of budgetAlaska Wildlife Alliance: $130,000 over 3y, 71% of budgetFULFILLMENT FUND: $115,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetWilderness Youth Project Inc: $115,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $80,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetONE HEARTLAND: $65,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $65,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $46,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY: $45,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $45,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRED BUCKET EQUINE RESCUE: $45,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetBIG CAT RESCUE CORP: $45,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetEXOTIC CAT REFUGE: $43,000 over 3y, 4.9% of budgetFOOD SHARE INC: $41,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMY STUFF BAGS FOUNDATION: $38,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetTEDDY BEAR CANCER FOUNDATION: $36,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetHOPE FOR PAWS: $7,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCAMARILLO HOSPICE CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetLIFESAVERS INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL BIRD RESCUE: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

California Community …National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Paypal Charitable Giv…Network for GoodDonor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
California Community FoundationCA12× affinity4 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Network for Good · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Ferguson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ferguson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Ferguson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ferguson Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 31 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Ferguson’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home